The issue of using marketing communication tools in the internet environment is quite extensive. Innovation of the usual procedures is usually influenced by market development. The presented study examines selected factors that may affect the acceptance of digital marketing tools in business practice in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The aim of the study is to answer the basic question of whether company size influences the willingness to adopt online marketing tools within the usual communication mix. Based on a thorough empirical analysis performed on a sample of companies operating in the Central European market, it can be stated that company size does not play a role in adopting online marketing tools. Most organizations, regardless of their size, still have reservations about investing in digital marketing. On the other hand, previous experience is a key determinant to perceive the benefits of using the internet for business purposes. Organizations actively using online marketing tools evaluate their contribution to their business very positively. It is a well-known fact that product testing significantly increases the degree of its acceptance. This knowledge is one of the key starting points in traditional marketing. Obviously, this assumption needs to be taken into account in both physical and digital environments. At the same time, it should be noted that the application of the basic online marketing tools in business practice is a prerequisite for all subsequent online activities.

This project report presents the rationale and the first results as regards the ongoing learning process of the PROMETEUS (PROMotion of EmobiliTy in EU regionS) project, co-financed by the Interreg Europe program, in the context of EU policies and programs dedicated to the promotion of sustainable mobility, and electric mobility in particular. Electric mobility, and in general low-carbon mobility, is one of the main targets of the European Union’s policies dedicated to a green transition. Despite continuous efforts, the number of electric cars in circulation remains low and the objectives of expanding the market for such vehicles by 2030 are still far from being fulfilled. Up until 2018, the share of electric vehicles was in fact only 1.5% of total car sales in the EU. Specifically, it has been noted that an increase in the uptake of electric vehicles in Europe is hampered by the presence of three main barriers: affordability, infrastructure availability, and lack of investments. In this context, project PROMETEUS has aimed at tackling the lacunae in the availability of infrastructures for a transition towards electric mobility in the partnership’s regions, namely, Carinthia in Austria, Castilla y León in Spain, Lazio in Italy, Malta, and Prešov in Slovakia, and at countering low awareness in the public through the improvement of policy instruments linked to structural funds. In order to approach and clarify the process of improvement of those policy instruments, we have summarized and presented the reference results and outputs from the Action Plans across the partners. Moreover, the report discusses in detail the output of the regional Action Plan of the one of project partners—the Prešov region, as the form of a model example—as the initial situation in terms of infrastructure development in the region posing as the biggest challenge for the project. Managerial as well as research summaries can be helpful in the implementation of similar projects; in the continuous improvement of policy instruments; and, last but not least, in the formulation of new challenges to improve awareness of sustainable forms of transport.

The global pandemic caused by the new coronavirus has largely changed established business practices. The aim of this study is to present the results of eighteen months of intensive research into the effects of the pandemic on e-consumer behavior. In one of the most active e-commerce markets in Europe, the Czech Republic, we analyzed a sample of more than one and a half million Facebook users in terms of their C2B interactions on the B2C activities of the five major e-commerce market players. The measurements were carried out in three periods, which corresponded to the onset of the first wave, the peak, and the fading of the second wave of the pandemic. This enabled us to monitor the effect of seasonality and the stabilization of patterns of consumer behavior during the coronavirus crisis. The results suggest that a specific panic pattern of e-consumer behavior was developed at the time of the onset of the pandemic. However, as the pandemic progressed, the market adapted to a new normal, which, as evidenced by the change in trends, appears to be a combination of the pre-pandemic and pandemic behavioral patterns. Using a statistical analysis, it was possible to identify the delta of changes within the patterns of consumer behavior, thus fulfilling the final condition for creating an empirical model of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on e-consumer behavior presented in this study.

In the days leading to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, open innovations in the form of the deployment of digital marketing tools in the management portfolio were an option; in a time of forced closing of economies, they suddenly became a necessity. The aim of the comprehensive research, in which the presented study is prepared, is to describe the changes in e-consumer behavior that occurred in the market during the COVID-19 pandemic. The presented study examines the seasonal and regional specifics that characterize the markets of Central and Eastern Europe. In a sample of almost 14,000,000 Facebook users, the user interactions with ten selected representatives of the e-commerce sector were recorded daily during the 2020/2021 Christmas season lasting 49 days. By analyzing the nature and timing of interactions, it was possible to identify the geographical specifics of e-consumer behavior, as well as basic seasonality indicators based on a comparison with the reference period of the first half of 2020. The synthesis of the findings provided a knowledge base for compiling a preliminary version of the model of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on e-consumer behavior. In terms of changes in e-consumer behavior, it can be stated that the step change in e-behavior patterns caused by the pandemic merges with pre-pandemic behavior patterns. In general, it can be stated that the evolutionary process of the transition from offline to online the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be a significant acceleration factor of inevitable changes.

This article deals with the analysis of the reputation of global automobile manufacturers primarily in the territory of the Slovak Republic for their comparison. The reputation of brands in the wider Central European and global context has also been considered. The selected brands were Volkswagen, Toyota, KIA, and Peugeot. Selected car brands either have a production plant in Slovakia or are well known in Slovakia, thanks to high global brand awareness. E-business marketing activities in the automotive sector are a major challenge to sustainability in the industry. The analysis took into account official information provided by automotive companies for the purpose of reputation management, as well as external data such as automotive media articles, independent reviews and customer feedback. The findings of the article include a detailed analysis of the online reputation of examined individual brands. The article also provides a list of the most important factors that can positively or negatively affect brand reputation, defined based on previous analysis. In conclusion, the authors try to make use of the findings and build a brief set of recommendations on how to correctly apply the reputation management principles to the overall strategy of the organization.